Detecting Rogue Access Points that endanger the Maginot Line of Wireless Authentication

The rapid growth in deployment of wireless networks in recent years may be an indication that many organizations believe that their system will be adequately secured by the implementation of enhanced encryption and authentication. However, in our view, the emphasis on cryptographic solutions in wireless security is repeating the history of the “Maginot Line”. Potential attackers of wireless networks currently will find many ways to get access to wireless networks to compromise the confidentiality of information without the need to crack the encryption. In this paper we analyze how rogue access points threaten the security of an organization’s wireless network and examine the popular approaches to defend against rogue access points. We argue that, while it is easy to detect access points, distinguishing between rogue access points and legitimate access points of the organization and of other organizations is a major problem which still needs to be solved.